The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1887-07-02

upper ftnlnsula press ftsstfulnR tntkttdi
scarcity OF ore cars and some have gone
80 far as To accuse the Chicago 4 North
Western Co., with niggardness in the
matter. This scarcity OF cars, be ii from
what ever cause il may has been great
inconvenience and source OF much
trouble TO shippers at this end of the
line. In some instances mines have laid of
one shift, whereas il il had been supplied
with ears, would have worked night and
day. The Florence Mining News OF last
week contained under head OF "bad state
of affairs" the following, which is draw
ing matters rather harder than absolute
ly necessary:
The scarcity OF ore cars still continues, and
the mines IN this vicinity are very mnch en-
barrassed In consequence. In "A conversation
with "a representative OF the Mining News, on
Thursday. prominent minirg man bitterly de-
nounced the Chicago 4 Northwestern Railway
Co, for the indifference 10 continues TO fest
IN the matter OF supplying the mines on the Me-
nominee range. especially those located whe.e
there is no competing line of railway, with even
half sufficient number Of ore ears TO meeS their
daily wants He cited Instances where ve1se's
under ensneement by his company had arrived
at Escanaba 10 load, but there be'rg an irs'''-
ficient quantity OF ore at the docks 10 make mp
the carpoes, the boats were turned over TO other
companies, which. fortunately for themselves,
happened TO have considerable ore awaiting
transportation. The mines located at points
which are blessed with more than one railway,
experience but little Inconvenience n th'sren-d.
The railway yards at those places are eqpent-
ly filed with cars, and the miner have lltt'e
trouble in keeping their stock piles reduced. Tie
gentleman declared that n tie present cordi. on
OF affairs continued much lor er, some oi the
mines would be compelled 10 either shut DO, 1.
for time or materially reduce their force o, EN-
ployes He was OF the opirion that the only
thing that was left for the mir'ng companies 20
do IA order TO enectually work "A leorm In tn :
direction, was 10 combine and epdeavor. II poL-
sible. 90 another railroad I'm this SECTION.
I He thought that the Milwaukee & Northern
could be induced TO build lire from Iron Moul-
I tain To Florence and therce 90 C-ystal Falls,
/ providing the compares would guarantee TO
I ship all their products over the road for term
OF yeers. at going rate. Notwithstanding the
j prevailing opinion 60 the contrary, the Nil ng
I News is reliably informed that Jew, II any o. the
mines on this rance have contracts With the
North Western road. With the probably ex-
, ception OF the mines In the Iron Mot lsa'n DIS
/! trict, the mine-owners practically at Tire
mercy of the last-named railroad company
Y They must either take what ears the company's
agents condescend TO send them, not ship
their ore. The arbitrary and short-'' gh eel
7 policy pursued by the road since the opeh', OF
I the ore-shpping season bids fair 20 react upon
H., as the suffering mnirg companies may very
soon decide 20 make a determined effort 20 81
cure competing road by offering such liberal
Inducements that new and enterprispg rail-
road could not afford TO ignore. IL has been
stated that there Is no money In [. eore-caT. ~
trade. As a matter Of fact, however, the North
Westerns Menominee Range branch =. and ha y
always been one OF the best payi ~ diy.slor1 on
the entire line Of road.
II the above is fact il would look
7 rather like bad state OF affairs but the
{ appended from the Escanaba Iron Port,
I would seem TO q. estion the Mining News
statement somewhat. The Iron Port ~
in "a position TO know pretty near what
il is talking about:
I II IL not fair on the part OF mine operators or
mining country papers, TO L,owi at the railroads
, about want OF transportation. The roacs are
not at fault. The Northwestern has an outh.
capable OF NOV ing Is 900 tors perday- 10000
/, tons "A month--and storage room Ia its docks 60
I handle that quantity " the lake clrr'ers cor'd
( be had. But with = .ain heights at six cen.s-
I equal Co more than ~ per ton for orr no ton.
mage comes for ore except such as is tied, ard
and fast. by season charters. and docks are q >
and cars stand loaded IN tfe yards. Were tie
capacity OF the docks and the equipment Of q g
roads doubled or treDlcd 10 would make but ~.
tie dinercncr, ;hcy would be choked with ore all
the SAM. and tie mines be no better onsl core
might as well be IN the stock pie the mir ~
In the docks II II can get no further. TIE trou-
bile Is with the lake carriers, which have more
freight offered than they can nancle aud wh'ca
naturally take that which pays best.
The Clevelanl Iron Trade Review, n
paper that is recoL .'ized authority ON all
such matters, has this TO say:
Ore dealers agree In fixing the " IponsIbltitv of
retardlng mining operations upon the vessel
owners and one larve dealer has adviccs that at
least two mines. the output oi which would have
been about 75. 900 tone. were or,'.red TO be shut
down this week
After reading the above IL win be seen
that the Chicago 4 Northwestern people
are not TO blame for all Of the trouble.
IL is expected that ore will very soon
begin 90 move out rapidly and the mines
which have fallen behind viii have nm OPP
portunity 20 catch up. II Ia hoped that
this will prove true as several mines in
this district viii otherwise fall short Of